In recent years, endoscopes have been widely adopted in the field of medicine or the like. Aside from endoscopes that perform normal image processing, there are endoscopes that perform image processing to calculate hematic information concerning a region to be examined in an object to be examined.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-37718 has disclosed an image processing system that performs image processing so as to quantitatively display a difference between a normal region and a lesion in an object to be examined for the purpose of assisting in diagnosis.
However, in this type of image processing system, if a different type of electronic endoscope is employed and, for example, a solid-state image pickup device incorporated in the endoscope offers a different number of pixels, it is hard to display an image using an appropriate domain within the number of pixels. In other words, time-consuming work is needed in order to designate a domain, which is used for display, according to the number of pixels offered by the solid-state image pickup device incorporated in the electronic endoscope to be employed actually. Consequently, it takes too much time for diagnosis.
Moreover, the image processing for calculating hematic information may be adopted in combination with other image processing. In this case, for example, a quasi image produced by performing the image processing for calculating hematic information may become different from a desired quasi image because of other image processing.
The present invention attempts to overcome the foregoing point. An object of the present invention is to provide an endoscopic image processing system that even when a different type of endoscope is employed, or more particularly, even when an image pickup device incorporated in an endoscope employed offers a different number of pixels, can display an image, which has undergone predetermined image processing, using an appropriate domain of pixels.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an endoscopic image processing system capable of preventing a change in an image, which has undergone predetermined image processing, because of other image processing that is adopted in combination.